Twine take-up.



. No. 664,872. PaientedV 1an. l'. |901.

F. M. KNUWLTN.

TWINE TAKE-UP.

(Application led Har. 28, 1900' L D 2M. Zwfffm l'rvrrEn STATES PATENi1 OEEICE.

FRANK M. KNOWLTON, 0F SPENCER, MASSACHUSETTS.

TWiNE TAKE-UP.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 664,872, dated January 1, 1901.

Application nea nach 28,1900. senti No. 10,533. (No meer To @ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK M. KNOWLTON, a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of Spencer, in the State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Twine Take-Ups, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to devices for retracting or taking up the free end of twine as used on the counters of stores and shops for tying up bundles and packages, so as to save time and twine by preventing the free end from becoming lost or snarled or from adhering to the clothing of customers, andthus being carried off out of reach.

The improved device is a simple automatic take-up adapted to be made at moderate cost, of attractive appearance, and free from liability to get out of order.

The invention consists in certain novel combinations of parts hereinafter set forth and claimed.

A sheet of drawings accompanies this speciiication as part thereof.

Figure l of the drawings is a small-scale elevation of the improved take-up, illustratingits external appearance. Fig. 2 is an axial longitudinal section of the same shortened by breaks; and Figs. 3 and 4 are cross-sections on the lines 3 3 and 4: 4, respectively, Fig. 2.

Like letters and numbers refer to like parts in all the iigures.

The improved take-up is in the form of a pendant, as shown in Figs. l and 2, and comprises an attaching-head A,a cylindrical bodytube B, and a terminal knob C, all of which are preferably and conveniently of sheet metal and may be permanently united with each other by solder or may be separable, if preferred.

The head A is perforated for the passage of nails or screws l and 2, Fig. 2, by which the take-up is attached to the ceiling of a store or shop convenient tothe position of a salesman or wrapping-clerk.

Within the body-tube B there is a suitablyrecessed body part D, preferably of wood, and within the latter a vertically-sliding weight E, a cushioning-spring F beneath said weight, and a guide-tube G, the latter communicating with the space above said body part D within the body-tube B and with the interior of the knob C, which is preferably1 and conveniently hollow. The recesses of the body part D comprise a central guideway 3, loosely iitted to the weight E, and a bore 4 at one side, tightly fitted to the guide-tube G. A plug 5, which may be of wood, glued fast or otherwise secured within the lower end of the guideway 3, supports the cushioning-spring F, which is preferably a short spiral spring of suitable wire.

Through a side opening 6 in the body-tube B the twine passes direct to the eye 7 at the top of the weight F, thence to an eye 8, which may be formed by an eye-screw on a level with said side opening, and thence through the guide-tube G to an escape-opening 9 in the extremity .of the knob C, from which it normally hangs within reach.

The twine T may be taken from a ball, cone, or spool of any kind held in a basket or other receptacle or upon a spindle or from a twineholder of any description through the customary tension device belonging thereto. When the free end of the twine is pulled, the weight E is first elevated until its eye 7 is on a level with the opening 6 and eye 8. The twine then passes as freely through the entire System as though taken direct from the ball, and when it is severed the surplus twine is taken up by the return of the weight E to its position of rest upon the cushioning-spring F.

The attaching-head A, body-tu be B, and knob C may be made of different ornamental shapes. The body part D may be molded of suitable plastic material. The weight E and its guideway may be of any non-circular shape in cross-section, and other like modifications will suggest themselves to those skilled in the art.

Having thus described said improvement, I claim as my invention and desire to patent under this specificationl. A pendent-shaped twine take-up comprising an attaching-head, a body-tube depending from said head and having a side opening nearits upper end to admit the twine, a recessed body part, within said tube, provided with a guide-eye on a level with said side opening, a weight guided by said body part and having a guide-eye at top, a guidetube extending downward through said body part, and a knob at the lower end of said IOC body-tube provided with an escape-opening end of said guideway, and aknob at the lower Ic in communication with the lower end of said end of said body-tube masking the springguide-tube. x supporting plug, substantially as hereinbe- 2. The combination, in a pendent twine fore specified.

take-up, of a sheet-metal body-tube, :L recessed body part within said tube having a FRANK M' KNOVL'TON guidewayextending lengthwise therethrough, Witnesses:

a weight sliding in said guideway, a plug- J. W. TEMPLE,

supported cushioning-spring within the lower C. W. ESTES, Jr. 

